LGBT Issues

Gay Inmates in California Can Get Married

With the demise of Proposition 8 -- the gay marriage ban -- gay inmates in California can get married to their same-sex partners, the Associated Press has reported. In an August 30 memo, state prison officials stated that due to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that "effectively invalidated" Pr ... More >>

Proposition 8 is Dead, 2008 - 2013

Proposition 8 is dead. The California Supreme Court pulled the plug today on any last hopes of anti-gay marriage supporters to resuscitate the law that banned legal same-sex in the Golden State. "Today's decision reaffirms that all loving, committed couples, regardless of their sexual orientation, ... More >>

California Senators Press for Major Boycott Due to Russia's Draconian Anti-Gay Law

Perhaps more hard-core than a boycott of Russian vodka, three California state senators today will urge California's two largest pension systems to halt any future investments in Russia. State senators Mark Leno, Darrell Steinberg, and Ricardo Lara are pushing the resolution due to the fact that R ... More >>

The New Black and Other Docs Ask, "Why Has Black Been Made the Face of Homophobia?"

Attention Gay Men: Our Choices Are Killing Us

See also: "Is L.A. Gay Pride an Outdated, Adolescent Mess?" Alan Turing was the father of computer science and artificial intelligence. Harry Hay spearheaded a movement that brought greater acceptance, visibility and equality for millions of queer folks around the world. Simon Nkoli tirelessly foug ... More >>

Henry Rollins: Misguided Outrage Over DOMA's Demise

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Sunday KCRW broadcast.] See also: Henry Rollins: Worried About the NSA? What About Google? When I read the Supreme Court ... More >>

Will Gov. Jerry Brown Sign Anti-Discrimination Bill To Protect Transgender Students?

Will Governor Jerry Brown protect transgender students from discrimination? That's the big question now that the California state senate passed AB 1266 on July 3, with the bill heading to Brown's desk. Called the "School Success and Opportunity Act," AB 1266 will "allow transgender students to fu ... More >>

In West Hollywood, Thousands of Queer Americans Celebrate A Stone-Cold Truth

Another blue sky day in West Hollywood, but it was unlike any other. On June 26, one day before the forty-fourth anniversary of the historic Stonewall riots in New York City, queer Americans in the Los Angeles area and across the country celebrated two U.S. Supreme Court rulings that told the worl ... More >>

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down DOMA

See also: Prop. 8 Dismissed by U.S. Supreme Court: Gay Marriage to Return to California. In a prelude to its decision on California's own anti-gay marriage law, the U.S. Supreme Court today struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In a 5-4 vote DOMA was overruled. The court says: "DOMA sin ... More >>

Gay Marriage in California: What Happens Next?

Updated at the bottom with state Attorney General Kamala Harris essentially saying she wants marriages to start ASAP. First posted at 9:28 a.m. See also: Prop. 8 Dismissed by U.S. Supreme Court: Gay Marriage to Return to California. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has kicked California's ban on ga ... More >>

Prop. 8 Dismissed by U.S. Supreme Court: Gay Marriage to Return to California

See also: *U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down DOMA. *Gay Marriage in California: What Happens Next? The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriage to resume in California today. In its ruling on the state's anti-gay marriage law, the court essentially said that a "private party," the c ... More >>

L.A. Man Shames Prop. 8 Donors in New Video Series

He's here. He's queer. And he's not above playing pranks to show that he means business. Jeff Girard -- a 32-year-old native of Yuba City, CA, and current Angeleno -- is a social justice activist who's expressing his support for marriage equality by pranking residents of his hometown who donated b ... More >>

Is L.A. Gay Pride an Outdated, Adolescent Mess?

Read L.A. Weekly's thought-provoking cover story "Gay Happiness, the New Frontier." Muscled go-go boys shaking their booties on one parade float after another, cock-ring tosses to win a stuffed animal, Bud Light and Bacardi sponsoring an event for a community with consistently high rates of alcohol ... More >>

Will Sheila Kuehl Reach Become First Openly Gay L.A. County Supervisor?

It came as a surprise to no one following L.A. politics, but one-time TV actress, former state senator, and current and proud lesbian and gay rights icon Sheila Kuehl announced her run for Los Angeles County Supervisor on Thursday. Kuehl, 72, could be the first openly gay person elected to the L.A. ... More >>

A New Book About the Gay Press, From The Advocate to Anderson Cooper

See also: *Top 12 LGBT Movies You Need To See, as Picked by Film Fest Organizers *Our Queertown column In her highly illustrated, keenly observed book Gay Press, Gay Power: The Growth of LGBT Community Newspapers in America, Chicago-based editor Tracy Baim looks at how gay magazines and newspapers ... More >>

A Gay Leader Emerges in the 'Hood

Deshawn Cole came out at Watts' Imperial Courts project, blazing an inner-city trail

USC Expert David Cruz Predicts Prop. 8 Supreme Court Decision is Unlikely to Make History

Updated at the bottom: David Cruz provides new details of his views. First posted Tuesday afternoon. David Cruz, an expert on civil rights and constitutional law, made his way from USC to D.C. to observe the oral arguments on California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage this morning. In a packed ... More >>

Proposition 8: Rob Reiner, Gavin Newsom, and Others React To U.S. Supreme Court Hearing

After the U.S. Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments yesterday about the federal Proposition 8 lawsuit, movie director and American Foundation for Equal Rights board member Rob Reiner, California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, and others weighed in about the historic proceeding. "This case has always ... More >>

Why Los Angeles Deserves Major Credit for the National Gay Marriage Movement

When it comes to life-impacting stuff -- civil rights, political movements, or education reform, for example -- Los Angeles too often gets overlooked by snobby journalists and intellectual types in New York City and Washington D.C. Let's just admit it: They don't take L.A. seriously and they hate ... More >>

Married Gay Men Live Longer, U.S. Supreme Court Should Read Danish Study

So apparently gay married guys live longer than unmarried or divorced men. That's what Danish researchers recently found after going through decades of statistics, and something conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas should consider when ruling i ... More >>

Edward M. Davis: Late LAPD Chief's Anti-Gay Letter Circulates on Internet, Sparks Memories of 1976 Melrose Avenue Bathhouse Raid

A letter from anti-gay former LAPD Chief Ed Davis is circulating on Facebook, Twitter and Google showing Davis' harsh 1975 response to Sharon D. Cornelison, former president of the Christopher West Association. Davis' letter vividly depicts his staunch opposition to a proposal that LAPD support " ... More >>

Obama Administration Weighs In On California Same-Sex Marriage Battle

The Obama administration today put its weight behind opponents of California's ban on same-sex marriage. The office of Attorney General Eric Holder filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, which could be weighing whether the Golden State's Proposition 8 is constitutional. In a statement ... More >>

Kamala Harris Tells U.S. Supreme Court Proposition 8 Must Be Overturned

In the state of California, same-sex marriage is illegal. You, the voter, made the law against gay unions happen. (Good move, people). So, of course, as the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the constitutionality of the matter, the state Attorney General's office is defending your will. Right? Oh hell no ... More >>

Byron Adams, Bill Rosendahl, Stevie St. John and L.A. Gay Equality Warriors Stunned, Thrilled by Obama 2013 Inaugural Promise

From revered gay UC Riverside professor and brilliant classical composer Byron Adams to Spectrum L.A. gay blog editor Stevie St. John, prominent Los Angeles-area lifelong fighters for equality were stunned by President Obama's surprise inaugural promise to bring full, unprecedented human rights to g ... More >>

U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Oral Arguments on Proposition 8 in March

The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will hear oral arguments for the federal Proposition 8 lawsuit on Tuesday, March 26 -- followed up the next day with arguments on the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). So in a little over two months, the question of legalize ... More >>

Proposition 8: U.S. Supreme Court Will Rule on California's Gay Marriage Ban

Update: Reactions quotes after the jump. The U.S. Supreme Court has announced today it will rule on the federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn California's gay marriage ban. In August 2010, Proposition 8 was found unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker. That ruling was appealed and ... More >>

UPDATE: Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks California's Landmark Gay Conversion Therapy Ban

Update: Another federal judge in a different lawsuit over California's gay conversion therapy ban does not grant an injunction to block the law from taking effect. More after the jump. When California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the first ban on gay conversion therapy in the United States, ... More >>

Same-Sex Marriage Could Return To California Under Supreme Court Decision Today

Today is the day that U.S. Supreme Court could take up the legality of same-sex marriage in California. Seems to us that folks who back equality in marriage would rather see the high court turn its back on California's Proposition 8, the initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in the Golden Stat ... More >>

Will Gay Voters Support Gay Republican Kevin James in 2013 Los Angeles Mayoral Run?

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Kevin James, a gay Republican, recently got a boost to his campaign when Republican political consultant Fred Davis created a "super PAC" to help James win. Davis plans to raise $3.5 million through a pro-James independent committee called Better Way L.A. Davis and oth ... More >>

Human Rights Campaign: Los Angeles One of Top Gay-Friendly Cities in United States

Los Angeles gets mocked and dumped upon by all kinds of outside critics, but they can't say it isn't a great place to be gay. According to the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights organization based in Washington D.C., Los Angeles is one of the top 11 gay-friendly cities in the United Stat ... More >>

2012 Election Results: Historic Night for Gay Issues and Candidates Across the United States

Four years ago, Senator Barack Obama won the presidency, but gay folks across the country were outraged that California voters approved Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage ban. Last night, it was a completely different story -- and one of the most historic and significant nights for the LGBT comm ... More >>

Shaun Kadlec Talks About Gay Underground in Cameroon and Filming 'Born This Way'

Living in gay-friendly Los Angeles, and an increasingly gay-friendly America, is a wonderful thing, but not all gays and lesbians are so lucky. Born This Way, a documentary by Los Angeles filmmakers Shaun Kadlec and Deb Tullmann, focuses on the underground gay and lesbian community in Cameroon. Th ... More >>

Gays Could Win Presidential Election for Barack Obama, Says Gallup Report

Guess ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and taking a strong pro-gay marriage stand could help President Barack Obama's re-election effort. According to the Gallup Report, with the presidential race running so tight, gays and lesbians overwhelming support for Obama could help him edge out Republican ca ... More >>

SoCal's Own Chris Kluwe Fights for Marriage Equality -- And Against Bigotry in the NFL

Walking across the Macalester College campus, Chris Kluwe passes unnoticed. As usual, the 30-year-old Vikings punter is dressed down: a pair of brown flip-flops, black basketball shorts, and a baggy zip-up sweatshirt. A backward World of Warcraft hat pins back his shaggy brown surfer haircut, a give ... More >>

Gay Happiness, the New Frontier

Are mental and physical health problems really a reaction to bigotry?

Institute of Medicine Says Link Between Coming Out and Good Mental Health is 'Unwarranted'

Last year, the Institute of Medicine published a landmark study titled "The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding." Many gay health experts hailed the report, but little notice was given to a finding in the "Early/Middle Adulthood" s ... More >>

Williams Institute Says Gays and Lesbians Still Vulnerable to Job Discrimination

In a new article for the Loyola Law Review, researchers at UCLA's Williams Institute, the premiere gay think tank in the United States, say that gay folks are still highly vulnerable in the workplace. "Well-researched and documented patterns of discrimination highlight the need... of a federal ban ... More >>

L.A. Gay Pride 2012: Organizer Vincent Jones Answers 'What Does It Mean To Be Gay?'

'What does it mean to be gay?' A seemingly simple question, but one that's not often asked. With Los Angeles Gay Pride starting this Friday, various gay folks give us their answers in a weeklong series. Vincent Jones is a community organizer who shapes LGBT programs at the Liberty Hill Foundation, ... More >>

L.A. Gay Pride 2012: Activist Michael Weinstein Answers 'What Does It Mean To Be Gay?'

Los Angeles Gay Pride weekend is coming, and we thought it's a good time to ask, 'What does it mean to be gay?' In a weeklong series, different gay folks answer that question. AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein has been working on the front lines of the gay rights movement for d ... More >>

Will There Be a World-Class Gay and Lesbian Museum in Los Angeles?

It's been a longtime dream of gay rights activist Ivy Bottini, who was profiled in the 2010 L.A. Weekly People issue, to build a world-class gay and lesbian museum in Los Angeles. Now she and a group called the Lavender Effect are putting things into motion to make that dream come true. Today, they ... More >>

Finally: Gay Bullying Gets Recognized as a Civil Rights Issue

Gay Republican Fred Karger Wants Your Vote, Calls Mitt Romney 'Mechanical'

Gay Republican Fred Karger, who's based in Southern California, has been stirring things up on the campaign trail this year, seeking the Republican nomination for president. The uber-underdog Karger is not going to get it -- candidate Mitt Romney will get the nod. But he's still on the ballot for Ca ... More >>

Update: Defense of Marriage Act: Federal Appeals Court Says Anti-Gay Marriage Law is Unconstitutional

Update, 11:25 a.m.: California gay rights activists respond to DOMA ruling, after the jump. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act has been found unconstitutional by a federal appeals court in Boston, Massachusetts. The U.S. Supreme Court may weigh in on the ruling. "Under current Supreme Court authorit ... More >>

LAPD Officers Have Been Harassing Transgender People -- But They Promise to Stop

The bad news: A new report out of UCLA's Williams Institute reveals "high levels of reported harassment and assault of Latina transgender women" by Los Angeles law enforcement, including the LAPD. The good news: In a meeting in West Hollywood last night, LAPD officials announced some new measures t ... More >>

Is Rick Santorum Gay? New Study Says Homophobes May Dig the Same Sex

Do you hate gays and lesbians with all your heart and soul? We've got news for you: a new scientific report says you may actually have same-sex desires yourself. Does this mean that Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is gay? Hmmmmmm... Conducted by a research team from the University o ... More >>

Mission Nearly Accomplished for California's Gay Rights Movement?

Once full marriage equality is wrapped up in California, there's not much left for the gay rights movement to do in one of the most tolerant states in the nation, right? Wrong. "We're in a period of a different kind of activism," says Courage Campaign founder Rick Jacobs. "Things have advanced ... More >>

Dustin Lance Black's Play 8, Starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt

Clooney, Pitt, Kevin Bacon and Martin Sheen power a fundraiser reading

Prop. 8 Ruling: Los Angeles, West Hollywood to Host Celebration Rallies Tonight

Surely you've heard the good news by now: Proposition 8 was just overturned by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. And, though the religious zealots at ProtectMarriage will inevitably appeal that decision, it's definitely time to take this Internet party to the streets. LGBT advocates and city o ... More >>

Prop 8 Overturned? Nope: Year-Old HuffPost Article on California Gay Marriage Goes Viral

PHOTO BY TED SOQUIFrom our own West Hollywood slideshow on victory day 2010.​Come on, guys -- this is how rumors get started! A Huffington Post article from August 2010 (and updated in May 2011) was littered all over Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and the rest of the Internet this morning. "Prop 8 ... More >>